Kissing Friday
by jennyelf
Summary: When Hermione lets Harry in on a old British custom, just what will Harry do with the knowledge? Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione
1. Chapter 1 The Kisses

A/N: This story will be similar to my Kissing Friday the mature version, but some parts will be different. So if you've read the mature version, don't be surprised if parts of this are the same. *grin* Thanks to Ella and Eric who betaed the first version of this.

February 5, 1997

Hermione Granger held her book _Unusual British Holiday Customs_ a little higher in front of her in order to block out the sight of her best friend falling all over her roommate. She scowled before turning back to the page in front of her.

"Hermione, must you read at the table? Can't you at least talk to me?" Harry Potter, her other best friend, pleaded with her as he glanced around them. "I mean," he lowered his voice so only she could hear him, "I know we're surrounded by couples and it's coming up on that dreaded day, but please, make an effort for me. I get bored just stuffing food in my mouth. I'm not Ron, you know."

"I know. I'm sorry, Harry," she apologized. She placed her book down on the table. "It's just that this book is really fascinating. Did you know that there is such a holiday known as Plough Monday? It's the first Monday after Twelfth Night."

"Plough Monday? What did they bless the ploughs or something?" Harry responded with a puzzled look.

"Exactly." Hermione wrinkled her forehead over the fact that Harry figured it out so quickly. "Well, at least in medieval times they did, although it was on Sunday it was blessed."

Before she could continue on, Harry interjected, "Are there any other interesting customs like that in the book?"

To answer him, she picked it back up and turned back to the page she had been on. She skimmed the next few pages before gasping and looking scandalized.

Harry quickly asked, "What? What is it?"

Hermione whispered, "I can see why that particular holiday went out of fashion." She shut the book and stuffed it in her bag.

"Oh, come on, Hermione. Tell me. _Please_," Harry pleaded.

Hermione shook her head and finished eating. Harry continued to beg her to tell him about what she had read all through the remainder of their classes. While everyone else was working on practicing the new charm that Professor Flitwick had taught them, Harry cast a Muffliato so he could continue working on Hermione without getting in trouble.

"Hermione," Harry said in a sing-song voice, slightly reminiscent of the Weasley twins. "Hermione. Please tell me about that holiday." After several minutes of continuous pleading to her back as she tried to work on her charm, Hermione turned around in a huff.

"Fine," she hissed. "There is an unusual custom that actually is no longer in fashion called _Kissing Friday_. There, are you happy? Can I go back to working on my charm now?"

"Kissing Friday? So what is the custom? I mean, what kind of custom could there be about kissing? Wait, I got it. Kissing actually refers to rubbing noses and that can only happen on Fridays, right?" Harry looked truly perplexed over this idea. Hermione's inner nature warred with herself. She wanted to share her knowledge, but her sense of responsibility as a prefect made her question letting anyone know about this as the custom could raise lots of problems if some of the boys in the school found out exactly how it worked. As she decided what to do, she listened with half an ear as Harry muttered all sorts of theories about what "Kissing Friday" was. With a shake of her head, she pulled out her book. Turning to the page, which described the custom, she handed it to Harry.

Harry read it aloud. " 'Kissing Friday is the Friday after Ash Wednesday. A day in the year when boys can kiss any girl without fear of rejection or punishment. In Leicestershire, if the girl does not allow the boy to kiss her, then he is allowed to pinch her behind.' So wait, does this mean a boy can kiss any girl regardless of whether they are in a relationship or not?"

Hermione worried her bottom lip. "Well, that's my take on it."

"But why wouldn't you tell me? What is so dangerous about this? Wait, when is Ash Wednesday?" Harry asked.

"Next Wednesday," Hermione said very softly, hoping that Harry wouldn't be able to hear her. Harry's face froze in shock.

"So you're telling me that 'Kissing Friday' is Valentine's Day?" Harry queried.

"Uh-huh. Now do you understand why I don't want anyone to know about this? Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if boys knew that according to custom they could kiss someone's girlfriend without being punished?" Hermione's eyes narrowed as she noticed that Harry wasn't really paying her any attention. In fact, knowing him like she did, she would say that he was planning something.

Behind both of them, but close enough to hear as the Muffliato was aimed towards Professor Flitwick, Seamus Finnegan just smiled.

As the news of the custom made its rounds of the boys' rumor mill, Harry debated internally. _Should he kiss Ginny?_ The monster in his chest purred at the idea. _But she's dating Dean_, his nobility streak argued back. _I can't get in trouble as I can claim that it's Kissing Friday. Still, Dean's your roommate. Plus, what would Ron say?_ He had almost decided not to do anything, but one final thought cropped into his mind. _How often does Kissing Friday happen on Valentine's Day? It's positively providential. You've got to show your Gryffindor courage_. Making his decision, he started plotting as to where he would kiss her.

* * *

February 7, 1997

At the brush of something against her hair, Ginny Weasley rolled over only to find a huge pair of black eyes looking at her. She startled and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. Blinking rapidly several times, she looked at the big barn owl that was perched on the edge of her bed.

"How did you get in here?" she whispered as she didn't want to wake her roommates. The black eyes just blinked at her as the owl stuck its foot out towards her hand. Puzzled, Ginny untied the package and watched as the white-faced bird hopped off the bed and out the curtains. She sat up and wondered who would have sent her something that wouldn't have been delivered with the rest of the mail. _Apparently, it's not from my family as that would have come with Errol. It better not be from Dean as we made the deal not to get each other presents for Valentine's. So who could it be?_, she thought.

Ginny gently peeled back the plain brown paper, ready for anything that might come out. This reaction was of course the result of living with the twins for too long. As she opened the lid very slowly, a small golden ball flew out. Instinctively, she reached out with her right hand and snatched it out of the air. Once she touched it, the ball fell open in two pieces. Lying in the middle of the snitch was a small Gryffindor lion, which stood and walked to the edge of her palm looking up at her.

"Oh, aren't you darling?" she murmured to the feline. Looking into the box, she saw a piece of parchment. Ginny lowered her hand to allow the lion to walk onto her pillow and watched as it yawned and curled into a ball. Reaching into the box, she pulled out the sheet.

_Ginny,_

This lion is a reminder of how great a Quidditch player you are as it comes in the Snitch that you caught to win us the cup last year.

Your secret admirer

_My secret admirer? So who could that be? Must be Gryffindor by what it says in the message. Hmm_, Ginny thought. She went through all the boys in Gryffindor; yet other than Dean, she couldn't come up with anybody who would do this. After all, she was dating Dean. Why would anyone else do this? Unable to figure anything out, Ginny decided to watch everyone closely to see if she could determine who the admirer was.

* * *

Over the next week, Ginny received some sort of gift each day. One day, she got a snack from one of the house-elves while she was studying. The day before Valentine's, she received another gift. This one was a pair of Chaser gloves. She puzzled over that gift as she was still uncertain as to who it could be. However, there was another note.

_Ginny,_

If you liked your gifts, please meet me tomorrow after your last class at the Room of Requirement.

Your secret admirer

Ginny normally met up with Dean after that class, so she started devising a way to pacify Dean while discovering who this admirer was. She knew who she wanted it to be, but she didn't want to get her hopes up as she didn't think it could possibly be him.

* * *

February 14, 1997

Ginny spent an exceptionally long time packing up as she was still trying to come up with a reasonable excuse not to hang out with Dean in the common room like normal. She slowly made her way out the classroom door. As she expected, Dean was lounging against the wall opposite her class. He pushed himself off the wall when he saw her.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Dean asked, puzzled.

"Oh, I was just thinking about things," Ginny responded, smiling brightly at him. He grabbed her hand as they started up towards the Gryffindor common room. Once they reached the portrait hole, Dean made as if to assist her in when she turned to him, "Really? Do you think I have to have help? Come on, Dean. I'm not a damsel in distress, you know." Brushing past him, she stormed through the common room up to her dorm to drop off her books.

Coming back down, she noticed that Dean had found them a place on a couch. Ginny winced as she thought about what she was getting ready to do, but she stopped short when Parvati sat down beside Dean. Ginny noticed that Parvati put her hand high on Dean's thigh before leaning over to him. Dean swooped in and kissed Parvati. She was stunned to see her boyfriend kiss another girl. Ginny snapped out of her stupor to go marching over to the couch.

"How dare you! Are you not supposed to be my boyfriend? And yet, you were kissing her!" Ginny slapped Dean before turning to rush out the portrait hole.

Dean yelled after her, "But it's Kissing Friday!"

Ginny furiously marched toward the Room of Requirement. _Kissing Friday, indeed! What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'll show him Kissing Friday! Oh, I hope my admirer is still in here,_ she thought. Luckily, there was a large brown door leading to the room, which meant that someone was in there waiting. Ginny crossed to the door and turned the knob. As the door opened, Ginny walked in and was scanning the room for signs of anyone when the door closed behind her. A blindfold was tied over her eyes. She started to panic until the person took her in his arms and whispered "It's okay Gin." Then she knew who it was. How could she not recognize that voice? She tipped her head up towards the sound of his voice.

Lips gently touched hers as the mysterious boy gathered her closer to him. Ginny felt weak at the knees. She couldn't believe that she was being kissed by the one that she had longed for after all this time. After an incredibly short time to Ginny, he pulled away from her. The boy ran his hands down her arms to bring her hands to his lips. Kissing the back of both of them, he whispered "Until another time. I remain your admirer."

Ginny tried to take the blindfold off, but it wouldn't budge. She heard the door close behind her and pulled desperately at the sash covering her eyes. A few minutes later, it simply fell off her face. Scrambling to get back to the common room to find the mysterious male, she darted out of the Room of Requirement and back to the tower.

Climbing through the portrait hole, Ginny was amazed to see boys everywhere kissing girls. She stood in wonderment at the sight. With a quick sweep of her eyes around the room, she discovered that Harry was nowhere to be found. Deciding that she wanted to relive her memories from the Room of Requirement, she took off for her dorm room and her bed.

Hugging her pillow to her, she marveled over the fact that Harry had not been downstairs in the kissing melee like her boyfriend. No, apparently the only one that Harry Potter had kissed was her.

* * *

Hermione Granger sighed heavily as she sat on her bed in her dorm room. She had pulled the curtains tight so that Lavender and Parvati wouldn't see her brooding. Normally, she left that pastime to Harry, but today being Valentine's Day, well, she didn't even really want to think about it. Yet, she didn't want to go downstairs to the Common Room on the off chance that Ron would be there with _her_. Honestly, she thought she had given Ron all the right signals, and really, how thick could a boy be? But still he had chosen _Lavender_? Don't get her wrong, Lavender was a Gryffindor and her roommate. She got along fairly well with her considering the fact that Lavender was a lot like the girls who teased Hermione unmercifully when she was in primary school. Maybe it was the fact that they at least had magic in common, but Hermione wasn't so upset that Lavender was seeing Ron. After all, it just showed that Lavender had good taste.

No, the person she was really upset with was none other than Ron Weasley. She had thought that he would have figured out that the way they snapped at each other was a form of foreplay, but no, apparently he's just too dense. Oh, and let's not forget Ron's jealous behaviour at the Yule Ball. Did that wake him up? No.

Tears started to slide down her face, but she hastily wiped them from her cheeks and took a deep breath. Hermione decided that she had to get out of that room. Maybe she could go to the library or go on patrol. She knew that Harry had snuck off somewhere right after last class, so he would not help distract her. She needed to do something to get her mind off Ron.

Determined, she crossed to the loo, splashed water on her face before pulling out a towel and blotting her face dry. Taking a look at herself in the mirror-- something she generally avoided doing--, she thought that no one could really tell what she had been doing up here. Besides, no one would get close enough to spot the slight red rims of her eyes. Straightening her uniform blouse, she opened the door and headed down the stairs.

After a quick glance up to view the room before looking back at her feet to make sure she didn't miss a step, Hermione skidded to a stop. Her eyes widened as she saw boys roaming the room kissing girl after girl and the girls were just letting them. Well, this would just have to stop! Clearing her throat, she called for attention.

"Everyone! Everyone! Please listen up." Hermione fairly yelled to get heard above the din. No one stopped or even seemed to pay her any mind. Straightening her back, she cast a quick _Sonorous_ on herself before trying to get their attention once more.

"Boys, while yes, it is the holiday known as Kissing Friday that custom has not been celebrated since the nineteen-forties. So please, stop before I have to go to Professor McGonagall," Hermione told the room. She cast a _Quietus _at her throat, even though she saw boys picking up right where they left off. Her mind was nearly frozen in panic as she didn't know how she was going to deal with this. She let out a small scream as she silently cursed one Harry James Potter. "I knew this would happen. Oh, I'm going to kill Harry," she muttered under her breath.

Hermione stepped off the stair and right into Ron. She stumbled slightly, causing Ron to grab her arms to help her balance once more. She glanced up at him slightly before blushing and saying, "Sorry."

"Hermione, did you just say something about Harry? Do you know where he is?" Ron asked. She looked into his incredibly blue eyes. She didn't know why Ginny thought green eyes were so great, blue ones could just melt your heart. For a moment, she forgot what he asked her, but then her brain powered up.

"I don't know where the prat is and he better not let me find him. Or he'll have worse to deal with than some birds circling his head," Hermione said, her eyes flashing.

"What's happened? Why are you mad with him?" Ron seemed sincere, but she had had enough of his indifference toward her.

"Why? What do you care? It's not like you've spent any time with us the past few months. I mean, really, why don't you just go find Lavender?" Hermione lashed out, uncaring about the scene she was creating. Ron simply grabbed her hands, which were flying around and trapped them between their bodies as he stepped closer to her. She let out a shocked gasp. The heat that was rolling off his body ignited a fire in her. She knew that she must have looked like a guppy out of water, but the feelings that were rushing through were like none she had experienced before. She fought to get her hands free, but Ron was too strong.

"Bloody hell, Hermione. Calm down. Just tell me why you're upset with Harry. He didn't stand you up or anything, did he?" Ron said quietly and calmly. If she had been thinking straight, she would have thought that a Ron who was calm was a dangerous one. At this point, however she was beyond mad. How dare he insinuate that she and Harry were a couple and that Harry would have stood her up!

"Ronald Weasley, are you implying that I'm the kind of girl who would get stood up? Besides, I have never thought of Harry like that. He's like my brother. I honestly can't believe you! I'm mad with him because all of this," she tried to gesture to the room, but Ron still refused to let go of her hands, "is his fault. He had to tell everyone about the custom that was mentioned in my book. Let go of my hands, Ron! I have to go see Professor McGonagall."

Her chest heaving in anger, she was about to let loose some of the epithets that she had heard Ron and some of the older boys use when Ron pulled her up on her toes. Startled, her mouth fell slightly open as Ron descended his head to lay his lips on hers. He had let go of her hands, but it slipped Hermione's notice as her eyelids fluttered closed. Without being aware of what it was she was doing, her hands crept up his chest to encircle Ron's neck. As his lips massaged hers, she felt his tongue creep out to gently prod her lips. She slammed them closed and pulled back. What the …

Forgetting about everything but what had just happened, Hermione backed away, tripping on the stairs. When Ron tried to help her, she scrambled back out of his reach. She couldn't get her mind to work. Why was Ron doing this to her? He had Lavender. He had made his choice very clear. Why would he kiss her? She raced up the stairs to her room, ignoring Ron's desperate pleas for her to come back.


	2. Chapter 2 The Aftermath

A/N: Many thanks to Jonelle and Manda for their help and support. I'm trying to work on Children of Prophecies, but it's not going so well. If you've read the mature version, this will seem similar, but with a few minor changes. *grin*

Kissing Friday- Chapter 2- The Aftermath

The following morning, Hermione ran into Ginny on the way down the stairs going to breakfast. The diminutive redhead was pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she came out of her dorm room.

"Morning, Ginny! How was your Valentine's yesterday?" Hermione asked, praying that Ginny wouldn't ask her about hers. She failed to notice the blush that crept up Ginny's cheeks.

"Um… It was fine. Why? What have you heard?" Ginny sounded extremely nervous to Hermione, who looked at her friend closer. Ginny's eyes were darting around.

"I was just wondering how you were handling the fact that Dean was kissing other girls in the common room. Are you okay?" Hermione thought she detected a small sigh, but then Ginny spoke rather assertively as she pulled Hermione down the stairs.

"That creep is getting dropped like a hot Quaffle. He just doesn't know it yet. I've got to come up with a way to do it subtly. Or do I? Well, we'll just see what happens," Ginny declared. Her brown eyes turned towards Hermione with a speculative look. "And how, pray tell, did you know about Dean? Hermione Granger, were you part of the crowd kissing yesterday?" Ginny let out a gasp as Hermione ducked her head to hide her face, which was heating up. "So who did you kiss? Come on, tell me!"

By this point, the girls had made it to the common room where Harry and Ron were waiting for Hermione. Harry and Ron stood up and made their way towards the portrait hole. Hermione noticed that Ron was avoiding looking at her whereas Harry couldn't take his eyes off Ginny. She narrowed her eyes in speculation before looking at Ginny. She seemed totally carefree, considering she was heading downstairs to presumably break up with her boyfriend of more than seven months. She watched as Ron slung his arm over Ginny's shoulder, which admittedly was a funny sight as he had to be at least a good six inches taller than her. Before Ron could reach up to mess with her hair, she slid out from under his arm and ran to the other side of Harry. Ginny put her arm through Harry's and cuddled up to his shoulder. Harry looked shocked at this turn of events.

"Harry, my great defender, please protect me from the great gigantic oaf. He's going to Bludger me into the ground." Harry looked over at Ron and shrugged as if to say "No idea, mate." Ron instantly focused on Ginny.

"Um, Gin, don't you have a boyfriend? One that is not Harry? What do you think you're doing flirting with my best mate?" Ron bellowed, annoyed at his sister. Hermione knew that Ginny wasn't going to let this one pass.

"Gee, Ron, didn't know you cared." Ginny stuck her tongue out at him before widening her eyes. "Oh, wait, forgot you're one of the overprotective gits. Of course you care." She let go of Harry's arm to step in front of Ron, causing him to almost trip over her. Ginny stood on her tiptoes and dragged Ron's face down to her level by pulling on his school tie. "Listen up, you nosy troll, who I date or flirt with is none of your business. In fact, if I wanted to flirt with the whole damn Quidditch team, you have nothing to say about it." She stopped to readjust his tie. "Understand?" He croaked out a "Yes."

Ginny flounced back to Harry. Lacing her arm through his, she said loud enough so that it carried over her shoulder to Ron, "Would you be kind enough to escort me to the Great Hall? I would hate to attack my closest sibling. I know that you'll help me control myself, won't you, Harry?" She smiled brightly at him.

Hermione watched as Harry gulped before answering, "Sure." Harry seemed awfully skittish around Ginny. At least to Hermione, he did. She wondered what he had done the previous night and if it had anything to do with a certain petite red-head. Watching the two of them walk down the hall to the stairs, she didn't notice when Ron came up beside her.

"Morning, Hermione," Ron said very quietly by her right shoulder. She startled and placed a hand over her heart. Glancing over at him, she felt her heart race a little more at the sight of him. He was walking with his head down allowing her to see that his hair was wet and shaggy over his ears. How she longed to run her fingers through it. She looked back towards Harry and Ginny before responding.

"Morning, Ron." She didn't know why he was talking to her, not really. It was very disconcerting. He was doing nothing like he should. Wasn't he supposed to be escorting Lavender down for breakfast? Why was he with her? She tried to remember whether Lavender had still been asleep or not, but realized that she simply hadn't paid any attention while she was getting ready.

Still, Hermione didn't know what to say to him, so she was immensely pleased when they came upon Luna walking down to breakfast as well. Hermione strode over to the Ravenclaw and latched onto her arm, chatting all the way down to breakfast.

* * *

Ron watched as Hermione grabbed Luna's arm and started a conversation immediately. He wanted to hit himself over the head. Maybe he should go flying later and let Ginny practice throwing Quaffles at his head. Only he could manage to wreck two perfectly good friendships by starting a relationship with Lavender. What Hermione must be thinking of him now, a fellow who kissed a girl who was not his girlfriend. He might be the tallest of his friends, but he felt infinitely shorter than all of them, based on his actions of the previous night. His mind kept replaying the moment when Hermione jerked away from him and refused to answer him as she raced up the stairs. Her nervous actions this morning only drove home the point that he had screwed up royally.

He had naturally drifted towards one side of the Gryffindor table. Yet, when he realized that Hermione was sitting on that side across from Ginny, who was beside Harry, he quickly reversed direction to sit on the other side of Harry. Ron silently piled his food on his plate and ate, totally lost in his self-deprecating thoughts. Around him, comments were made that he refused to respond to. When Lavender came and sat beside him, he didn't even bother to greet her. Thoughts of why he was even dating Lavender and why he would think it was okay to kiss Hermione roiled through his head. He had never believed that he would have so little integrity, but his actions belied that belief. Ron pondered what he could do to redeem himself in Hermione's eyes.

* * *

Harry stood up from the table. He figured that he could get some flying time in before revising some with Hermione. Hopefully, the flying time would help him sort out his feelings about what had happened in the Room of Requirement the evening before with Ginny. He said a quick goodbye to his friends before striding out of the Great Hall headed for his dorm room to get his broom.

It wasn't long after his exit through the doors that Ginny caught up to him.

"Harry, I have a favour to ask," she said, slipping an arm through his. She bit her lower lip. "Can we go somewhere and talk?"

"M-m-me?" Harry asked, pulling at his collar. His mind was frantically running through his memory of last evening to see if there was a way that Ginny could possibly know her secret admirer was him. "Are you sure that I'm the one you should be asking for this favour?"

"Absolutely," Ginny responded with a nod. She pulled him up the flight of stairs to the Room of Requirement.

He gulped at the sight of the tapestry signalling where they were. Looking down at the petite redhead that firmly controlled his heart, whether she knew it or not, he knew that somehow, some way, she had figured out that he was the one that had kissed her yesterday. Now he just needed to figure out how to handle this.

He stood still as she paced back and forth in front of the wall, causing a large wooden door to appear. Harry followed her into the room. When the door had shut behind him, she pushed him into it. Ginny wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head down with her hands. Her lips met and gently moved against his. His eyes went wide before closing shut. He wrapped his arms around her waist and allowed himself to get lost in her kiss. After a few moments, she pulled away to cuddle in his arms.

Once the raging hormones had cleared his system, Harry glanced down at Ginny. He was shocked by what had just happened and he couldn't help but stare. Her hair rained over her shoulders. He watched as it moved in time with her breathing. Harry couldn't see much else from this position, but he felt her cuddle closer as if trying to merge into one body.

"Um, Gin?" Harry wanted to get her attention, but not at the same time. "Ginny? Don't you think we should talk? Didn't you say that you had a favour to ask?" Harry asked almost in a whisper, forgetting that there was no one around to hear them.

Ginny picked her head up from his chest, looked him square in the face and smiled the most beautiful smile Harry had ever seen. Harry had a fleeting thought that if anyone epitomized the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, it would be Ginny right now. He tucked her hair behind her ears and just stared into her warm brown eyes. How had he missed how beautiful she was? His thumbs softly stroked her cheeks. Her skin was so soft. His eyes were drawn to her lips. Those lips were just made to be kissed. He couldn't resist and leaned down to gently place a kiss on them.

"Harry? I'm not dreaming, right? I mean, this is really you and not some Polyjuiced impostor?" Ginny looked incredulous while questioning. Harry grinned at her while stroking her jaw with one hand.

"Yes, Gin. I'm really me. Let's see- a way to prove it to you." He thought about it for a minute before saying, "Okay, I told you that both Riddle and the Basilisk were taken care of in the Chamber of Secrets while we were on our way to join up with Ron."

Ginny pinched herself before looking up at Harry again. Her mouth dropped open. Harry didn't know what to think at this. Judging by the look on her face, Ginny was very confused.

"Harry, why did you lure me here last night to kiss me?" Ginny's forehead was scrunched as it always did when she was trying to figure things out. Harry rubbed his thumb over the crinkles to straighten them out.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked, slipping out of her embrace to cross to the fire that was blazing.

"I recognized your voice, but the kiss a moment ago verified it for me. Those lips were the ones that touched mine last night in the most incredible kiss," Ginny answered.

"R-r-really?" he stammered out. "Most incredible? Huh," he half-whispered to himself, smiling slightly. After having turning away to gather his thoughts, Harry turned back to her. "I didn't intend for you to find out. The only reason I spoke to you was because I could see the panic in your face when I placed the blindfold on." Harry ran his hand back and forth through his hair during this spiel. "Gin, what about Dean?"

"Dean who? Oh, you mean the jerk who was kissing Parvati when I left the common room yesterday? He was history the moment his lips were placed on someone else's. He just doesn't realize it yet." Harry smirked at this answer and wanted to just say 'good riddance', but why would Dean be so stupid as to kiss someone other than Ginny? His eyes widened as he had a sinking feeling that he knew why. But how did the others find out?

"Gin, did Dean say why he was kissing Parvati?" Harry almost visibly cringed waiting for the answer. He was glad that Ginny was not paying close attention to him when she started ranting about Dean's response.

"He said some nonsense about it being Kissing Friday, whatever in the hell that means." Ginny started to pace around the room, continuing unaware that Harry was not even remotely paying her any attention. Harry had frozen when he heard Ginny's answer. Hermione was going to kill him. She was utterly going to kill him, but he had no idea how anyone had found out about Kissing Friday. Thinking about Hermione led to him thinking about Ron, who was going to kill him for another reason entirely. Ron, who was so protective over Ginny ever since second year, was going to hex his bits into nothingness for what he had done. How in Merlin's name would he ever explain the kiss between Ginny and him to his best mate? Better not explain. Maybe he should start making escape plans in case he needed them. Carry his invisibility cloak with him at all times and his Firebolt shrunken as well.

Ginny broke through these thoughts with a snap of her fingers in front of his face. "Oh, so you've finally decided to rejoin me here in the Room of Requirement, have you? What are you thinking about, Potter?" Harry looked at her to realize that he had made a huge mistake thinking that his murder would only take place once he returned to the common room. Her hair was swirling around her body as she looked through narrowed eyes at him. It was such a cliché, but she really was so cute with all that emotion brilliantly displayed on her face.

He stepped up to her and framed her face with his hands. Lowering his lips to hers, he whispered, "How incredibly beautiful you are." After a few seconds of kissing her, Ginny pushed him away from her.

"That doesn't get you out of explaining, Harry. You were thinking about something when I mentioned Kissing Friday. What?" Ginny questioned him.

"Well," Harry looked away to avoid seeing how she was going to take this information. He didn't want to know if this would change her feelings about Dean. "Kissing Friday is a Muggle holiday where boys can kiss girls on the Friday after Ash Wednesday and not get in trouble."

"Oh, really? And just how is that supposed to work?" Ginny asked in a mocking tone. Harry glanced at her to see that her arms were crossed with that glorious hip of hers poked out to the side and her foot tapping.

"Well, apparently, the guy can just kiss a girl regardless of whether she is in a relationship or not. He's not supposed to get in trouble and he's not supposed to be rejected either." Harry felt like he was giving her a reason to go back to Dean, which was the last thing he wanted to do. Yet, he couldn't keep her from Dean if that was who she really wanted. Harry didn't want any sort of lie, even those by omission between them.

Ginny marched over to him and grabbed his face between her hands. She looked him straight in the eyes- brown scrutinizing green. "Did you really think that you had to wait until a day you couldn't get in trouble or be rejected?"

"What?" Harry's mind was reeling. Did she just say what he thought she did? He wanted to shake his head to clear it, but her hands were too firmly attached to his cheeks for him to move. He felt like a Quaffle she was defending from the other team.

"Harry James Potter, did you _really_ think that I would reject you? I've always had feelings for you." Ginny's face was full of wonder and bewilderment at the same time. She backed away clearly unsure of how he was going to take this response.

"But…But Hermione said you gave up on me." Harry was truly puzzled by this turn of events. Here he was thinking that she was going to go back to Dean and now she's got feelings for him?

"Harry, I got tired of waiting for you to figure out that I'm a girl. So I decided to have a little fun until you came to your senses. At least I hoped you would come to your senses." Ginny had started fidgeting with a bracelet she had on her wrist. Harry reached out to grab her hand.

"Gin, I'm sorry that I didn't treat you like a girl. Honestly, I knew you were one, but I wouldn't have known what to do with you any way."

"I think your kisses last night and today belie that opinion, Harry." Harry felt the heat creep up his neck and to his cheeks. Ginny started to giggle at the sight. He ducked his head until Ginny forced it up.

"I'm sorry to embarrass you. Will you continue please?" she asked quietly.

"I was just going to say that I've realized that you were a girl all year. Well, really since the end of last year. You were so brave at the Department of Mysteries. While I was focused on finding and saving Sirius, I couldn't help but notice how… well, sexy you were wielding your wand and fighting. But then on the train ride back, you mentioned that you had chosen Dean. So what was I supposed to do? This year you have been dating Dean this whole time. I couldn't come between you," Harry said in a rather emotionless voice.

"So what changed? Why now? You can't expect me to believe that it is simply because you discovered Kissing Friday." Ginny tilted her head and looked at Harry with a penetrating look on her face.

Harry looked away and answered, "Actually it is. Hermione discovered the custom a little over a week ago. I figured then that I could kiss you and if Dean asked me about it, I could use the excuse of Kissing Friday. I could also use the excuse with you if you found out who I was, but I was really trying to plan it so that you wouldn't."

"But wouldn't the girl need to know the custom in order for there to be no rejection or punishment?" Ginny wondered aloud.

"I had planned it so you wouldn't know who it was or so I thought," Harry said rather morosely.

"Ah," Ginny responded with upraised eyebrows. "So what now?"

"I don't know. Are you going back to Dean now that you know about Kissing Friday?" Harry answered.

"No," Ginny scoffed. "For all I know, he's been using it as an excuse to kiss anyone in the common room. I don't want to date someone like that."

"So then I guess you wouldn't want to date me as I used it as an excuse to kiss you." Harry continued to look at the floor with his head down.

Ginny's eyes widened. "That's not what I said. Harry, look at me. Don't you understand how incredibly wanted you made me feel last night? You set all of this up to be able to kiss me, little Ginny Weasley, your best mate's sister. Answer me this- did you kiss anyone else last night?"

"No," Harry shook his head.

"Why not?" Ginny said with a calculating look as well as a smirk on her face.

"Well, I don't want to kiss anyone else." Harry felt repugnance at the very idea of kissing anyone else. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"And that's why I want to date you. Because you want me and only me, unlike others who shall remain nameless." Harry's head snapped up at this. He knew that he probably had a stupid look on his face, but he could not contain his amazement. He felt a smile spread across his face before his next thought had it sliding off again.

"Um, Gin, what shall we do about Dean and Ron, though? I mean, I don't think either one will take this very well." Ginny seemed to think it over for a minute before getting a slightly mischievous look in her eyes and smile on her face. She nodded her head as she bit her lip apparently going over her plan.

"Gin, what have you come up with?"

"Well, we just keep this relationship under wraps until it's time to go public. I mean, we can sneak around, right?" she said with a bright smile. Seeing that particular smile had Harry contemplating resuming their earlier activities.

"Why, certainly, we can," Harry said before taking her in his arms and kissing her once more.


	3. Chapter 3 First Prank

That night, Harry and Ginny raced along a hallway, trying to get away from Peeves as he was sure to alert everyone to the prank that they had just set up in the Great Hall for Dean if the poltergeist caught them. Ginny had dumped Dean during lunch in the Great Hall after she had confronted Harry in the Room of Requirement. However, the public dumping was not enough payback in Ginny's mind, which had led her to ask for help from Harry in setting up a good prank. Harry smirked as he thought about how Dean would respond to what they had set up.

Seeing a good hiding spot, Harry pulled Ginny under the Invisibility Cloak with him, hiding beside a statue of a wizard with drawn wand. Her hands landed on his chest, in an effort to help her maintain her balance from his tugging. The feel of her small hands there made Harry flustered. She tilted her head up toward him, her lips coming closer to his face before veering to one side for her to whisper in his ear.

"How long do you think we have to wait here to escape Peeves?"

She sank back down from being on her tiptoes. Harry slid both arms around her and dipped his head to rest his mouth beside her ear.

"I'm not sure, but are you complaining about being under an invisibility cloak with your secret boyfriend?" He pressed a kiss to the spot below her ear before feathering kisses along her jaw. His lips met hers. When he pulled away, he was amazed at the slightly dazed look on Ginny's face. Harry had never thought that he would be able to affect a girl like that with his kisses after his disastrous first kiss with Cho.

He knew the moment she came out of the daze though. Her hands tightened on the lapels of his robes and pulled him down to kiss her again. Their mouths moved in harmony with one another. The sound of rushing feet coming close to where they were hiding startled both of them. Ginny ducked her head, blushing. Harry placed a finger on her chin, pulling her face up to his.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Gin. I was lost in you just as much as you were lost in me," Harry whispered, dropping a kiss on her lips. "But I think we might need to get back to the common room before anyone gets suspicious." Ginny's face turned from one of embarrassment to one of self-assurance.

"Well, that was a most pleasant ending to the planning of a good prank. We'll have to do that again sometime," Ginny said, stepping out from under the cloak.

Pulling the cloak off of himself, Harry wrapped his arms around her and dropped a kiss on her lips before responding, "I'm ready whenever you are." Grabbing her hand after he stuffed the cloak into his pocket, he started to lead the way back to the common room when Luna turned the corner, startling them.

"Oh, it was your feet, I saw. I thought so," Luna said dreamily.

* * *

Ginny skipped down the girls' stairs, ready to see the prank on her ex-boyfriend unfold in front of her during breakfast. Hearing Ron and Harry's voices coming from the common room, she slowed her steps.

"So where were you last night, Harry? I came back from patrol and you weren't to be found. A certain cloak and map were missing as well," Ron's voice said, drifting up the stairwell.

"Well, Ron, not that I have to report my every move to you, but I was following Malfoy last night. I still think he's up to something," Harry responded. At this, Ginny burst through the doorway and greeted her brother loudly.

"Good morning, Ron. Were you waiting on me? How very sweet," Ginny said.

Ron mumbled something under his breath. It sounded something like "not bloody likely," but she wasn't sure. She turned to beam a smile at Harry. When she noticed that Ron's attention had been drawn to the arched doorway where Hermione was descending the stairs, she winked at Harry broadly. He just visibly gulped. She wanted to give herself a pat on the back for a flirt well done, but she didn't want Ron to ask any questions. With eyes sparkling, she grabbed Hermione's arm as she stepped to stand beside Ginny and started dragging her to breakfast. The boys followed behind the girls.

"Ginny, why are you in such a hurry to get to breakfast?" Hermione asked, bewildered. Her steps were hurried beside her friend, who set an incredibly fast pace.

"Oh, you know me. Weasley stomach and all. I'm just hungry," Ginny replied in a rush.

"Ginny, I'm a Weasley and I'm hungry, but you don't see me setting the new speed record trying to get to breakfast," Ron commented.

"Well, I can't help it if your mind is occupied with things or should I say something else, other than food!" she retorted. Glancing back at her brother, ready for his next volley, she was slightly startled to see his face flush. She quickly turned around to avoid running over Malfoy.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, Weasley?" Malfoy sneered.

"I did. Why do you think I was able to avoid your ferret germs, Malfoy?" Ginny responded. Malfoy glared at her maliciously.

"Why don't you just run along to the feeding trough? That's where all of you blood traitors belong anyway," the Slytherin snarled.

"You do realize that you may sling insults my way, but they will never find their mark," Ginny said with a haughty look on her face. Malfoy's hand curled around his wand.

"You do know, Malfoy," Harry said very calmly, tapping his chin with a finger like he was pondering something, "why Professor Slughorn asked Ginny to join his 'Slug Club' on the train, don't you?"

Malfoy just smirked at Harry before answering, "No, was she eavesdropping on private conversations, too?"

"No," Harry responded with a devilish smile, "she was taking care of vermin with a well-placed Bat Bogey Hex. The professor thought she was brilliant at casting it."

"Oh, panting after the little girlfriend, are we now Potter?"

"So what if I am? There would be no shame in admiring such outstanding wand work. I would rather pant after a girl for being brave and smart than simply because she looked at me," Harry answered smoothly. "But even though _Ginny and I are_ only good friends, I can still say without a doubt that she could best you in a duel any day of the week."

Ginny's heart swelled at the confidence Harry had in her. Not giving Malfoy time to form a retort, she led the group to a spot in the middle of the Gryffindor table.

When Ginny had placed the last bite of her breakfast in her mouth, her ex-boyfriend walked through the doors. She nudged Harry, who was sitting on her right, with her knee. Covertly, she cut her eyes toward Dean, unconsciously trying to draw Harry's attention to what should be taking place anytime now. She settled back to wait for the events to unfold.

Dean traversed the room to sit near Seamus, just like Harry and Ginny had thought he would. However, instead of sitting on Seamus' right like normal, Dean went to sit on his left. Ginny froze, unsure of what to do next. Harry called out to Dean.

"Hey, Dean! Did you finish your Defence Against the Dark Arts essay for Snape?"

Dean then moved to sit on the right side of Seamus in the exact spot that was needed for the prank. Ginny wanted to kiss Harry for his ingenuity, but knew that would be against all of their plans to slowly reveal their relationship to everyone. She was so focused on Dean's movements that she didn't pay attention to the rest of Dean and Harry's conversation.

The young witch wanted to jump up and turn cartwheels when Dean reached for the sugar to add to his morning tea. Thank Merlin Gryffindor wizards were so predictable when it came to what they ate and drank in the mornings. Dean stirred in the lumps of sugar, or at least what he thought was sugar. A few seconds after he took his first sip, Ginny saw the marks appearing on his skin. At first, they looked like hives that one gets when eating something they are allergic to. Ginny gave a subtle wave of her wand under the table. Instantly the marks blossomed into the perfect formation of the lipstick marks left behind by overly affectionate aunts that make their young victims cringe.

Ginny bit her lower lip to prevent her laughter from overflowing before others saw what was going on. She knew that she could be implicated if she reacted too soon. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to focus on something else. She had sensed a tension between her best friend and her brother earlier that hadn't been there before Friday. Her curiosity was piqued, especially when she caught sight of the glances the two of them were casting at each other when the other wasn't looking.

A burst of laughter from a little farther down the table alerted her that other students were becoming aware of the bright red marks all over Dean's face and neck. She turned her attention back to Dean just in time to hear Seamus' comment.

"What are ya now- the Blarney stone- getting kissed all over?" Dean's face displayed a look of total confusion. Ginny inwardly gave a whoop of joy, realizing that her ex-boyfriend hadn't felt the marks when they appeared as she had feared he might. The older boy kept asking his friends for an explanation, but their laughter made it so that they didn't have the breath to answer him. The uproar resulted in the appearance of Professor McGonagall at the table in an effort to calm the students.

"What is the meaning of this?" her short clipped tones rang out over the laughter of the Gryffindors and students from other houses that had seen the kiss-speckled Dean.

"Quite honestly, Professor, I have no idea. None of these prats will let me in on the joke," Dean spat.

When Professor McGonagall caught sight of Dean and his marked face, her hand went to her chest.

"Mr. Thomas, what is on your cheeks and neck?" she queried. The red marks were prominent against his dark skin. Dean reached up and patted his face. Pulling his hands down in front of him, he looked shocked to see streaks of red covering both palms extending up to his fingers.

"I...I...I don't know, Professor," Dean stammered.

"Why are you covered in lipstick?" she demanded.

"I don't know," Dean answered, his eyes wide.

"Well, you are covered in kisses. Have you been indiscriminate with your kisses lately, Mr. Thomas?" Professor McGonagall was tight-lipped with one eyebrow cocked.

"Well, um, what do you mean?" Dean's eyes shifted from one side of the professor to the other. Ginny smiled smugly, seeing Dean squirm under the interrogation by their Head of House.

"Why would anyone cover you in kisses unless you have been kissing? How else would you get covered in lipstick?" the stern professor asked.

Dean's mouth opened, closed, and opened once more, only not a sound came out. His dark skin tone flushed as red as it could get.

"My suggestion, Mr. Thomas, is to take yourself up to your dorm room and clean up immediately. You're embarrassing our house." With that, she turned to head back to the head table. Ginny saw a small half-smile grace the professor's face before the older witch schooled her features to be neutral once more.

* * *

February 20

After breaking up with Lavender, Ron decided to make it a point to study in the library as much as he could without prompting from Hermione. He figured that maybe he could redeem himself in her eyes by actually putting some effort into his schoolwork. Plopping down at the other end of the table from where Hermione was working on a Transfiguration paper, he pulled out his Potions book. Ron surreptitiously glanced down at Hermione. She was still ignoring him like she had been since their kiss. Hermione hadn't even acknowledged that he had broken up with Lavender. He heaved a huge sigh and wondered why he cared so much about what Hermione thought of him.

Trying to focus on his Potions, he got sidetracked again when he glanced over at Hermione. She had her lower lip trapped between her teeth in a look of fierce concentration. He remembered the feel of those lips on his. Kissing Hermione had been so different from kissing Lavender. Lavender's kisses were very wet and left Ron feeling like he needed a towel to wipe his face. Hermione, on the other hand… Well, an area of his body needed a towel after her kiss and it wasn't his face.

"Ron, why are you here?" Hermione asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. She was tapping the end of the quill against her paper, not even realizing that she was leaving small dots all over her parchment.

"Why I'm here to study, Hermione. There are several potions that I need to revise as I'm not quite sure which order to put the ingredients into the cauldron," he grinned at her.

"But you never study without me nagging you to…" she trailed off, deep in thought. The light in her eyes seemed to dim as she slowly packed up her rucksack. As usual, her arms were still filled with books as her bag never seemed to hold all of them. Panicking, Ron wondered what he had done that had upset her now. He stood to offer her help with her books when she brushed by him hard enough to send him back into the seat.

"Hermione, wait," he called after her retreating figure. Ron watched her glide through the library doors. "Bloody hell," he whispered to himself, wondering what he should try next.


	4. Chapter 4 Thoughts

A/N: Happy Kissing Friday, everyone! Hope your day was eventful and full of kisses! Thanks to Jonelle for being the fabulous beta she is. Enjoy!

Chapter 4- Thoughts

February 21

Ginny Weasley wondered why she was sitting on a couch in front of the fireplace in the very empty Gryffindor common room while every other Gryffindor in her year was outside enjoying the unusually warm day. Staring at the fire, which really wasn't needed, she relived the covert glances, the small gestures, the little touches that she and Harry had shared over the last few days.

_Harry. He was the reason she wasn't outside. She still couldn't quite believe that he was hers. Well, at least she thought of him as hers. _She sighed. _Were they ever going to go public with their relationship? And what kind of relationship did they have exactly? It was all her fault for suggesting that they sneak around. Harry would never be the type of guy to only be out to get that "one thing" from a girl, but still was she his girlfriend, albeit a secret one?_ _Is that what she wanted? _

Ginny had to admit to herself that she had never really pictured herself with anyone other than Harry. She really didn't know how much longer she could simply play being only his friend, not now that she knew what those lips felt like and how they could move against her skin. Moreover, she wanted more than anything to shut Romilda Vane up. Just today at lunch, Romilda had been overheard bragging about how she was this close, holding her index finger and thumb about two centimetres apart, to getting Harry into her bed. Ginny longed to be able to turn to Romilda and say how incredibly difficult that would be since Harry was her boyfriend and she didn't share. However, she was bound by an agreement of her own suggestion, which prevented her saying anything.

Her thoughts returned to more pleasant ones, reliving some of the steamy encounters she and Harry had shared under his Invisibility Cloak. Her body temperature started to rise, causing her to fan herself in an effort to cool down.

An arm appeared over the back of the couch with a finger trailing up her right arm. Ginny nearly jumped through the roof of the tower. She had thought herself to be completely alone in the common room. Turning around on the couch, brandishing her wand, she startled at the sight in front of her.

His green eyes sparkling with mischief, Harry simply held out his hand to lead her around to the back of the couch and into his arms.

"Wait. Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Ginny asked, surprise in her voice.

Harry seemed to think about it for a minute before answering, "Yes, but I decided that I would skive off since you had a free period."

"But Harry, it's a N.E.W.T. level class. You can't just skive off," Ginny scolded him.

"You can if you use a Nosebleed Nougat and get yourself sent to the Hospital Wing." He grinned at her as his hands ran up and down her back. "In fact, I was told by Madam Pomfrey that I needed to rest." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "What do you say? Play nurse for me?"

Despite her confusion over their relationship, Ginny couldn't help noticing how happy Harry seemed. She had never seen him act this light-hearted and teasing before. Tilting her head, her smile grew as his hands ran up her back and over her shoulders to cup her face. He pulled her body close to his. His lips teased by nipping first at one side of her mouth and then the other before coming to rest directly on top of her lips. All rational thought vanished once his mouth had assaulted hers.

"What do you say we take advantage of the fact that all the rest of my roommates are in class?" Harry whispered in between kisses. Ginny's brain couldn't seem to form words, so she just nodded. Grabbing her hand to pull her behind him, Harry darted toward the stairs.

Once they crossed the threshold of the boys' dormitory, Harry's lips attacked hers in a fierce battle for dominance. Ginny didn't really notice anything about the décor of the room as Harry walked her backwards up to the bed while nibbling at her lips and running his hands through her hair. Ginny stumbled when her foot hit the small step that led to the bed. Her eyes popped open and a giggle escaped.

Neither one of them saw the previous occupant of the room sneak toward the door. After he closed it behind him, Neville mouthed, "Harry and Ginny?" He secured his textbook in his hand more firmly and swept down the steps to head to class.

Scrambling up onto the bed, trying out different poses while his back was turned, Ginny watched Harry pull the curtains closed and cast a Locking and Silencing Charm on them. Harry turned and dived onto the bed, causing her to bounce up off the bed for a few seconds before landing back beside Harry. She grinned widely at the sight of Harry's dancing green eyes. Ginny thought again about how light-hearted Harry seemed.

"Who are you? And just what have you done with Harry Potter?" Ginny asked, giggling.

"It's not what have I done with Harry Potter, but rather what you have done with Harry Potter," Harry replied.

"Oh," Ginny said, slightly confused. She reached up to scratch at her eyebrow when Harry grabbed her hand to pull her toward him. The dancing in his eyes had slowed and a fire leapt into them. Ginny was shocked to see the instant change from his carefree attitude to one of passion. _Did she really have that kind of effect on him?_ Cradling her cheek in one hand, Harry traced her lips with his thumb before swooping down to capture her lips with his. After a few minutes, she pulled away to take a moment to catch her breath, which was only stolen away again at the sight in front of her.

"Do you really need the glasses?" she asked, licking her lips at the picture he made lying on the bed with his hair all crumpled and messy.

"Well, if I want to see you, which of course I do, then yes. Why?" Harry asked, his eyes bright with curiosity.

Ginny sighed. "I like running my fingers through your hair, but I always seem to knock your glasses askew. I wanted to avoid that if possible."

"Well, I'm so sorry that you happened to fall in with a blind male like me. Maybe you should go back to Dean. He has perfect eyesight after all," Harry retorted. Ginny's eyes went wide.

"I know you did not just suggest that I go back to that prat of a roommate of yours. Perfect eyesight is all fine and handy," she wiggled her eyebrows at this, deliberately changing the saying, "but his lips are not nearly as creative and… adventurous as yours are." At this, she looked at him through lowered eyelashes before fluttering them at him. As she wanted and anticipated, he then pounced on her. Kisses were shared and savoured. Pulses raced before the two of them pulled away from one another, knowing that they weren't quite ready to take that next leap yet.

Ginny's head rested against Harry's chest, listening to the sound of his slowing heartbeat. Propping herself up on one hand, she looked down at Harry and swept away a lock of hair from his brow with her free hand. A wave of emotion swept over her and she realized that the crush she had had on Harry was completely gone. In its place was pure unadulterated love. While she had known that she was winding her way toward love with Harry, this afternoon delight had shown her a more carefree Harry than she had ever seen. This had been a Harry without the burden of Voldemort. This was the Harry she wanted as her own for all time. Now she just had to convince him that she could help him become that Harry and that she was the one for him.

HGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRH HGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRH

February 28

Hermione slowly picked at her plate of food, absent-mindedly twisting a lock of hair around her left index finger. Her friends' voices resounded in her ears, but she wasn't following their conversation. Instead she merely soaked in the feelings evoked by one particular voice. The deep timbre sent little vibrations up and down her limbs. Hermione knew it was strange to have a crush on someone that had all started with sound of his voice, but when Ron's voice had changed, so had Hermione's feelings for him. She had been deprived of hearing it for so long now, ever since he had started seeing Lavender. Ron, however, had recently broken it off with Lavender and as a result had started sitting with Harry at the Gryffindor table once more. Still, Hermione didn't know how to talk to him since their kiss on Kissing Friday, which resulted in her just sitting at the table, listening to the sound of his voice wash over her.

She was stuck in her thoughts until a large hand touched her shoulder. Startling, she turned around to see Ron standing behind her holding two rucksacks on one of his shoulders.

"Ron, hurry up. We have Quidditch practice. You know that Harry will make you fly extra laps if you're late," Ginny called to him as she hurried out of the Great Hall.

"I have to go get my gear from the Tower. I'll be there in a few minutes," he called back to her.

Hermione glanced down to the floor beside her to verify her supposition. "Ronald Weasley," she said, standing up and placing her hands on her hips, "what are you doing with my bag?"

"Geez, 'Mione, I was just going to carry it up to the Tower for you. Angry much?" Ron replied.

"Ronald, are you implying that I'm incapable of carrying my own books up the stairs, even though I've been doing it for the past five years without a problem?" Hermione crossed her arms mid-rant and glared at Ron, who placidly just held out her bag for her to take.

"Well, they are kind of heavy, but you know what? It's not worth fighting over. I'll see you later at the library, Hermione," Ron responded calmly before heading out of the Great Hall. Hermione just stared at his retreating back, stunned. _It wasn't worth fighting over? Since when did Ron Weasley back down from a fight?_ She cursed under her breath, wondering if he had figured out her strategy of starting a fight with him, just to hear his voice. _He'll see me later at the library?_ Hermione couldn't believe the changes in Ron. It was like she had no idea who he was anymore. Realizing that she was still standing in the middle of the Great Hall, she looked around for anything she might have forgotten before heading to the library.

Hermione threw her rucksack onto the library table, earning her a scowl from Madam Pince. Her short burst of temper evaporated at the sound of the impact. Slumping down into the chair, Hermione rested her head on her hands. Just what was Ron playing at? He was so different from before. Now he was showing up in the library all the time, trying to carry her bag, their kiss…

Ron surely didn't realize that the kiss he gave her on Kissing Friday was her first kiss. Oh, she knew the rumours that Lavender and Parvati had started about her snogging Viktor, but they weren't true. She hadn't said anything to contradict the rumour because after all, what girl wants to admit to never being kissed? Plus, in her deepest of hearts, she had hoped it would make Ron somewhat jealous and realize that she was a girl. She had thought it had the desired effect when Ron had agreed to attend Professor Slughorn's party with her. Instead, it seemed to have the opposite--driving him right into Lavender's arms since Harry had later told her that Ron had not heard the rumours until right before he got together with Lavender. Then again, if he was attracted to Lavender, then there was little to no chance that he could be even slightly interested in her. She and Lavender couldn't be more different as the only thing they had in common was sharing a house dorm room.

Before Lavender entered the picture as Ron's girlfriend, at least Hermione had Ron's friendship, something for which she was willing to settle. Now it seemed that their friendship was damaged beyond repair. She really didn't know how to talk to him other than fighting and he wasn't cooperating with her in that area anymore. So not only had she lost her chance at being with Ron, but it also cost her his friendship. She wanted to put her head down and cry, but knew she could NOT break down in the library.

She had quite a lot of work to catch up on. It was amazing how Ron's behaviour could confuse her so much that it would affect her concentration on her studies. But Ron was at Quidditch practice so he wouldn't be here distracting her. Now if she could just stop thinking about him for longer than five minutes, she might actually get some work done. Forcing all of her thoughts about one Ronald Weasley to the side, she set to work.

Harry pulled up on his broom to watch Ginny dodge a Bludger before she launched the Quaffle through the left hoop. Ginny smirked at Ron in triumph before zooming off to practice flying the Chaser weave with Dean and Demelza. Rather than looking for the Snitch, which would signal the end of practice, Harry watched Ginny's hair whip around her face set ablaze by the setting sun's rays like red-gold flames in a fire. Her face was lit with a glow similar to the one she had after one of their encounters. Just thinking of some of their exploits made Harry's limbs shiver in anticipation, along with making a certain part of his anatomy react.

The past two weeks had been heavenly. Harry honestly wondered if he had switched lives with somebody, considering how happy Ginny made him. The only fly in the ointment was the agreement to sneak around that Ginny had suggested and he had agreed to. Why had he ever agreed? Wait, he knew the answer to that one, Dean and Ron. Ginny hadn't wanted it to seem like she was dumping Dean for him. Harry hadn't wanted to face the scrutiny and lecture he would get from Ron for even thinking about Ron's baby sister like that. Yet, he couldn't have anticipated how often he would long to climb to the top of the Astronomy Tower and shout that Ginny Weasley was his girl. These longings grew more insistent every time he saw other blokes flirting with said girl, which, as she was very beautiful, was quite often. He knew that the only way to keep himself from looking like a overgrown Neanderthal was to talk to her about going public with their relationship. Harry knew he would do just that the first opportunity he got.

Spotting a glint of gold, he flew off, chasing after the Snitch like he planned on chasing the happiness he had with Ginny.

HGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRH HGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRHHGRH

"Hermione, I know I messed up on Kissing Friday, but you have to understand how incredibly tempting your lips were. I just couldn't help myself. I know I had a girlfriend who wasn't you, but don't you see you were the one I wanted for my girlfriend?" Ron looked into the mirror, trying to determine if these would be the phrases that would gain him access to the heart of the one he so wanted. He sighed before slumping onto his bed.

"Thinking heavy thoughts, Ron?" Neville asked. Ron jumped so high that his head brushed the top of the curtain on the bed. Admittedly his head wasn't too far from it to begin with though.

"Merlin, Nev, give a bloke some warning next time," Ron said, hand over his heart that was thumping in his chest. But after thinking about his previous activities, Ron stared at Neville trying to see if he could read on Neville's face whether or not he had heard what Ron had been rehearsing in the mirror.

"So, Ron, how long has this affair with the mirror been going on? I'm a little shocked at the fact that you would prefer a two-dimensional object to Lavender, but then Lavender can get annoying…" Neville said, trailing off as he apparently thought about previous encounters with Ron's ex-girlfriend.

"I don't want the mirror, you prat. I was practising a talk that I want to have with someone," Ron admitted, looking everywhere but at Neville.

"Oh, you mean you've finally woken up to the fact that you're in love with Hermione?" Neville asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He sat on the edge of Harry's bed. Ron figured he did this since Harry's was the one closest to where Ron was sitting. Then the words that Neville said hit Ron fully.

"How? What? How did you know?" Ron stuttered in response.

"Let's see, I've lived with you and had classes with the both of you for," Neville placed a finger on his chin as if in thought, "five and a half years now. Ron, everyone in the castle can pretty much tell you that you're in love with Hermione and she's in love with you. Well, maybe not Crabbe and Goyle, but no one ever accused them of being intelligent."

Ron, being Ron, latched onto the part of Neville's sentence about him in love with Hermione and completely missed everything that came after. He stood up to pace back and forth between the beds.

"What do you mean everyone knows I'm in love with Hermione? I just broke up with Lavender. I'm not sure if what I'm feeling is even love," Ron ranted. Then he paused and collapsed on his bed, arms going up over his head. "Neville, what am I going to do?"

"Tell her. It's not that hard," Neville replied.

_Since when does Neville give advice like this? _Ron thought_. _"Um, did you catch what I was trying to do when I was talking to the mirror? I was trying to figure out how to approach her with it."

"Ron, she's your best friend, well, one of them. How difficult is it to just tell her?" Neville asked, exasperated.

"You don't understand. I kissed her."

"You what?" Neville's mouth dropped.

"On Kissing Friday. I kissed her and I was still seeing Lavender. Hermione hates me now, Nev." Ron grabbed his pillow and buried his face in it.

"No, she doesn't. But you're right in practicing what you're going to say. Knowing you, you'll just put your foot in your mouth. No, make that both feet," Neville mused.

After a few moments of silence, Neville broke it. "Ron, you could practise on me. Pretend like I'm Hermione."

Ron threw his pillow towards the head of the bed in his efforts to sit up to look at his friend. Trying to figure out if there was an angle as to why Neville would offer this, he studied his friend's face. _What is up with Neville? This really wasn't like him._

Seeing Ron's examination, Neville shrugged. "It's totally up to you. I don't care one way or the other if you decide to try this out, but I do want to see you finally make Hermione happy. She's been through enough with you."

"What are you saying?" Ron asked.

"Just that it's about time she got the opportunity to be happy. Ron, every time she's attempted to be happy in a relationship with a guy of any sorts, other than Harry, you've ruined it."

"No. What? That can't be true, can it?" Ron ran his hand through his hair, scratching his head. He thought back over the years and when Hermione was with other guys. "The only guy I can think of her trying anything with is Krum and I most decidedly didn't do anything to ruin that."

"Oh, really? Interesting how your memory is different than mine. Even though I was otherwise occupied, even I know about the fight you two got into the night of the Yule Ball. Oh, and he wasn't the only one she tried anything with or did you forget that she had invited you to the Slug Club Christmas party at one point? But no, then again you had to be an idiot and start up with Lavender. You didn't want Krum to have her, but you made her feel like she wasn't worth a Knut. And you kissed her? Well, you need to start planning out what you want to say to her." Neville just shook his head at his friend. "Now come on and try out something on me."

Ron thought about it for a few minutes. "So what do you think? Should I be on my knees? I mean, isn't that the tried-and-true grovelling position?" Ron asked Neville.

"I think it might be a good idea after all you've done," Neville replied.

Ron complied by getting on his knees by his bed. "Should I be at her feet, too?"

Neville nodded. Ron crossed over to Neville while remaining on his knees. Clearing his throat, he started. "Hermione, Lavender pales in comparison to you."

Neville shook his head. "Ron, don't bring up Lavender! It's just a reminder of the girl you chose over Hermione."

Ron rocked his body to rest back on his heels for a moment. Biting his cheek, he thought about what he could say to explain to Hermione what he felt. He had a glimmer of inspiration hit, driving him back onto his knees. He grabbed Neville's hand.

"Nice touch," Neville said, lifting their joint hands. "Hermione would enjoy it."

Ron took a deep breath. "Did you know that your smile brightens my whole day? Each morning I look forward to the brilliance of it lighting up the room. The days when your laugh fills the room with--"

Two snickers were heard from the doorway. With eyes wide, Ron, with Neville's hand still in his, looked over to see Harry and Seamus clutching opposite sides of the door to prevent themselves from falling onto the floor with laughter. Ron dropped Neville's hand like a hot Quaffle. Slowly backing away, he almost didn't hear Seamus ask, "With?"

He missed Neville's response as his face flushed scarlet in embarrassment. He crawled to his bed before slowly pulling himself up onto it. Right before he buried his face in his pillow, he heard Seamus say, "I've always wondered if you two kids would get together."

Ron grabbed the other pillow to cover his head in shame. He knew he would never live this one down.


	5. Chapter 5 Confrontations and Plans

A/N: One more chapter left. Thanks to all who have read and those who take the time to review! Thanks goes to my beta Jonelle for being simply fabulous!

Chapter 5- Confrontations

March 1

Ron crossed to sit beside Hermione at the Gryffindor table early that morning. Bypassing the food, which should have tipped Hermione off that something was up, Ron leaned against the table, propping his chin on his hand, looking at her.

"Hermione, we need to talk," Ron said very calmly.

"Why? So you can humiliate me again? I don't think so," Hermione responded by turning her back to Ron.

"Humiliate you? When have I ever done that? Or rather when have I ever been capable of that?"

"Try 'Kissing Friday'. Or did you forget you kissed me in the midst of all the other kisses you gave that day?"

"How was me kissing you a humiliation?"

"Oh, I can't talk to you!" Hermione stormed out of the Great Hall.

Ron sat at the table, fuming. _Humiliate her? How in Merlin's name did he humiliate her by kissing her? _He folded his arms across his chest. His thoughts running in circles, Ron decided to go back to the dormitory to think about his approach to how to resolve this with Hermione.

He made his way back upstairs without once glancing at the spread of food in front of him.

* * *

Harry peeked through the curtains of his bed, his eyes racing around the room looking for bodies up and moving. With the delicate nature of his plans, he wanted to be sure that two of his dorm mates didn't see him leave. As he silently slid his body toward his trunk, he noticed that Ron's curtains were ajar, framing an empty bed with tumbled sheets.

_Oh Merlin, _Harry thought. _He's found out about us. The only reason that Ron would be out of bed this early on a Saturday and his birthday no less was if he was extremely upset about something. Wait, if he knew, he wouldn't have gone anywhere without hexing me, so he must not know. Hmm. It's still probably best if I get his birthday present out now. I can just put it on his bed._

Harry started digging through his trunk. He pulled out a heart shaped box of chocolates. Shaking his head, he wondered where this had come from. He tossed it on his bed, knowing that the box of chocolates he had for Ron must be in his trunk somewhere. Seeing the telltale colour that signified something related to the Chudley Cannons, Harry grabbed at it and pulled the box of Honeydukes' chocolates to the surface. He grinned at the reaction he imagined his best mate having when he saw the Chudley Cannon Quidditch cards that came with the chocolates. The sight of the time had him scrambling to put the orange box on Ron's bed before quickly dressing and racing out of Gryffindor Tower. He was off to the prefects' bathroom to see Ginny.

* * *

Hermione ran down the steps of the castle. At the bottom of the stairs with the majority of her energy expended, she slowed her pace. The witch meandered down the path leading to the lake.

_Why? Why do I let him get me so worked up? _She kicked at a rock viciously.

_I couldn't even be gracious enough to wish him a happy birthday. No, instead I had to jump all over him the moment he spoke to me._ She sighed before flopping her body down to the ground beside the lake.

_But why did he wait so long to want to talk to me? He's been avoiding me at every turn until now. Why did he wait until his birthday—two full weeks after the 'incident'? _A tear streaked down her cheek. She pulled her knees to her chest and fisted her hands, hitting the hard, cold ground on either side of her legs.

_Why did I ever think he would understand me? I knew he thought I had been kissed before. _She thought about what she would have liked her first kiss to be like. Her imagination had painted a picture of her being swept up in Ron's arms after his declaration of love to her. Resting her elbows on her knees, she laid her head on her arms and sobbed for what should have been.

She calmed herself before sitting along the shore of the lake for some time, watching the Giant Squid slowly swim along with its tentacles occasionally breaking the surface allowing her to become mesmerized.

* * *

Ginny paced in front of the mirror in the prefects' bathroom. Harry was supposed to have been there five minutes before, but she was so preoccupied with trying to figure out how to tell him what she wanted that she hadn't even noticed. Facing the mirror once more, she started her speech again.

"Harry, I know that I was the one who suggested the sneaking around and all, but really I just want to tell everyone," she stated earnestly. A giggle from behind her made her spin around. Moaning Myrtle was floating between the pool-sized tub and the toilets.

"Talking to yourself now? Don't you remember what happened last time you were doing that?" Myrtle said in her small little girl voice.

"Myrtle! Like I need a reminder! Now, I'm expecting someone and you better be gone before he arrives," Ginny said tersely.

"Oooh, little miss Quidditch is meeting a boy in a bathroom!" Myrtle said slyly. "Are you going to be doing dirty things?"

"Myrtle, you might be a ghost, but that doesn't mean that I don't know certain" Ginny made sure to emphasise the certain, "spells that can still affect spirits just like they do people. I'm sure my brothers have made you aware of some of these spells, have they not? So scram!"

Myrtle, hearing these words, turned tail and flew down the toilet pipes very quickly.

Ginny, just now noticing the time, was wondering if Harry was going to stand her up when the door to the bathroom was pushed open. She took a deep breath.

* * *

Ron paused at the doorway to his room, his hand hovering over the door handle. He was incredibly tempted to grab Harry's map and find Hermione, but he didn't think she would be very receptive to his overtures at the moment. No, he needed to stop and plan this out. He would treat this like a chess match, but instead of mating the king, he was after the queen.

Determined to think this through, he opened the door, crossing to his bed. He vaguely noticed that Harry was gone, but everyone else seemed to still be asleep, which suited him fine. Yet, when he looked at his bed, he found a box of chocolates. Assuming that it was his present from Harry, he tore it open. After all, chocolates were brain food in his opinion.

Seeing the Quidditch cards inside made him feel like at least his friendship with Harry hadn't been permanently damaged by his relationship with Lavender. Tearing off the wrapper, he sat leaning back against the headboard, thinking and planning.

Some time later, he reached into the box only to come out empty-handed. Not being done planning his strategy, Ron looked around for other sources of food. His eyes brightened when they fell on the heart-shaped box of chocolates on Harry's bed. Going over to grab them, he unwrapped the box and pulled a few out. Ron thought he could finish up his planning after eating a few of these. He didn't want to eat all of Harry's chocolates, but he knew that Harry wouldn't begrudge him a few, especially not on his birthday.

After a few bites, Ron's mind was taken over with visions of dark eyes and long, dark hair. He started wondering why he was planning anything to do with Hermione. It was Romilda that he should be planning for. He loved _her_, after all!

* * *

After whispering the password, Harry leaned his forehead against the door before pushing it open. Catching a glimpse of Ginny's smile before closing the door behind him, the wizard stumbled into the room.

"Gin, I'm so sorry I'm late. It's just that Ron wasn't in our room, which made me think that he found out, but then he didn't kill me—" Harry said in a rush until Ginny's hand covered his mouth.

"Breathe, Harry!" Ginny commanded. Harry took a deep breath. "No, it's fine that you were late. If you had come any earlier, we would have had company," Ginny said with a slight scowl. "But I got rid of that pesky ghost."

"Let me guess, Myrtle was in here." Harry looked around as if expecting Myrtle to come zooming up from one of the stalls at any moment. "She's always around whenever I come in here. I wonder if she has a sensor or something that lets her know when I'm coming." Shaking his head to clear it, he looked over at the redhead perched on the edge of the huge bathtub. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I have to have a reason now?" Ginny asked with one eyebrow arched. She stared at Harry until he started stuttering a response. Then she cut him off. "Harry, I'm just teasing. I did have a reason for asking you here." She pulled in air very slowly before releasing it in a flood of words. "Harry, Iwanttotelleveryoneaboutus."

The words had flowed together in Harry's ears making it difficult for him to differentiate the syllables to understand what she was saying. It didn't help, of course, that he had focused on her lips, which were so tempting and plump. When he saw her catch the bottom one between her teeth, he struggled to form a thought.

"I'm sorry. What?" he replied.

Ginny lifted her eyes to his defiantly. "I think it's time we went public with our relationship." She immediately backed away from him and started to pace. Harry felt a huge grin spread across his face. He leaned his body back against the door to watch his girlfriend. "It's been two weeks since Dean and I broke up. We can just ease people into it by us sitting together and holding hands or something like that. Unless..." A slightly hurt and yet nervous look was on her face when she turned around to face Harry. "You don't want to tell everyone. Wait, you're smiling?"

"Actually, Gin, I was going to talk to you about this very thing." He crossed to her, framing her face with his hands. "I never considered myself to be very possessive about anything, but when it comes to you, I guess everything I thought about myself is turned upside down. I see the looks that the other blokes give you, especially when you aren't looking. I want them to know that you're mine, but by the same token, I want everyone to know that I'm yours," he said, rushing through the last part when her eyes flared at the mention of her being his.

"Really?" she asked, a bright unusual light shining in her eyes.

Harry tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear before answering. "Absolutely. There aren't words to describe how you make me feel, or at least I don't know them. My only concern is Ron and how he'll feel about it. I must admit that it scares me slightly to think that I might lose his friendship over this," Harry confided.

"Harry, I think Ron will surprise you. Several times, it's appeared that Ron was almost throwing me at you, but you never seemed to want to catch me," Ginny said, before lifting up to her toes to gently kiss Harry.

Harry didn't know just how much he believed Ginny, but then again Ron was her brother. He had made the decision to trust her when her lips moved against his, causing passion to flare within him.

* * *

Neville stopped just inside of his dorm room when he caught sight of Ron sitting on the window seat, looking out at the grounds. Wary of what his roommate was up to now, he edged into the room to grab the book that he had needed to retrieve. Ron turned toward him.

"Oh, Neville, it's you." Ron turned back to the window, looking a little lost and forlorn. It was not an expression that Neville would ever have associated with Ron Weasley.

"Ron, are you okay?" Neville was very hesitant about asking this, knowing Ron's temper, but after yesterday's events, he wondered if Hermione or someone else had done something.

"Have you ever noticed how completely beautiful she is?" Ron asked, eyes firmly locked on something outside.

"I can't say that I've ever looked at Hermione quite like that," Neville answered. _Hannah Abbott, well, that's a different story._

Ron continued like Neville hadn't answered him. "Her long dark tresses just make me want to run my fingers through them. Her lips are so plump, begging to be kissed."

"Hermione doesn't have dark hair," Neville said, completely confused by Ron's utterances.

"Hermione? Why would I be talking about Hermione? Romilda is the goddess of my dreams, the princess in my fairy tale," Ron said, reaching a hand out to the glass of the window.

"Romilda! Ron, what in Merlin's name is wrong with you? First, it was Lavender. Then it was Hermione, which is the one I've always thought was for you anyway. Now, it's Romilda. Just yesterday, you were declaring your undying love for Hermione. What happened?" Neville was shocked by this turn of events. He had thought that Ron had finally figured out that he was meant to be with Hermione, much like Harry was meant to be with Ginny. But now, Ron was crushing over Romilda Vane?

Neville looked around the room, wishing and hoping that something could give him a clue into the mind of one Ronald Weasley. A bunch of wrappers lay on the floor surrounding Ron with a heart-shaped box tossed slightly to his right. Neville picked up the box, noticing a card on front. Flipping the parchment up to read, he saw that the box was actually meant for Harry. He placed his hand over his mouth, recalling the warning that Hermione had given Harry weeks before about girls brewing love potions. Although Neville wasn't in Potions this year, he had heard of what the love potions could do. He figured he should get Ron to Professor Slughorn immediately.

* * *

Ginny wanted to sigh when Harry pulled his lips from hers. Refusing to remove her arms from his neck, she looked up at her boyfriend, who had just made her so happy by agreeing to tell everyone about them. His eyes were dark with desire. She had seen them in this state quite a few times now and she thrilled every time to know that she was the reason they were that way. Her teeth pulled at her bottom lip.

As she expected, Harry's hand came up to gently tug her lip out from between her teeth. "That's my lip to bite, not yours." To prove his point, his lips came down on hers. His teeth nibbled at her top lip first before transferring their attention to her bottom one. His hands moved up to frame her face once more. That move always made her feel so precious and cherished. Her fingers moved to twirl the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck when she opened her lips to allow Harry entrance. Tongues danced back and forth. Only stopping for breath, Ginny looked at Harry.

The sound of the bolt in the door squeaking open startled the two of them. Harry and Ginny jumped apart. Ginny frantically tried to figure out if she should dive into a stall to hide. A bushy-haired girl stumbled into the room with toiletries in arm. Her eyes widened when she saw who was occupying the room. "Harry? Ginny?!? What are you two doing in here together?" Her eyes took in the sight of the two of them and the guilty expression on their faces. Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' before asking, "Why are you two looking so guilty? Anything you need to tell me?"


	6. Chapter 6 Full Circle

A/N: So here it is the last chapter. Thanks to all who have read and especially those who take the time to review! Hopefully now I can focus on Children of Prophecies. *grin* Thanks as always to Jonelle for being a fabulous beta!

Chapter 6- Full Circle

March 1

Neville gasped for breath after he stumbled through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. Leaning against the wall just to the right of the portrait hole, his eyes wandered around the room before they lit on the three people he was looking for. After he took a second to get his breath back as much as he could, he crossed the room to Harry, Hermione and Ginny. He puzzled for a second over the fact that Ginny was sitting very close to Harry since he thought that Hermione didn't know about the two of them, but he shrugged it off.

"Hospital wing. We need to get to the hospital wing," Neville panted out.

"Why? What's wrong? Who's there?" Hermione asked, standing up in a panic.

Neville just looked at her for a minute before answering. "Ron."

Her eyes got wide and her face paled before she swayed on her feet. Harry immediately shot to her side, supporting Hermione by wrapping an arm around her. Ginny, on the other hand, burst through the portrait hole so fast that Neville barely realized that she had left already.

"Ron is going to be fine now. I'll fill you in on what happened once we get down to the hospital wing. But I only want to tell this story once," Neville reassured them. The three of them made their way down to see Ron.

Ginny was already at his bedside when the trio arrived. With Ron's hand in hers and tears welling in her eyes, Ginny turned to Neville.

"All right, explain, please. What happened to Ron?" Ginny demanded. She looked nervous, yet at the same time, fierce.

Neville shuffled his feet before starting to speak. "I had gone back to the room for a book I needed for my revisions. Ron was sitting in the window seat, looking very strange. He was going on and on about Romilda Vane and how beautiful and perfect she was."

"Do what?" Harry said, spluttering. "After what he did and said to you yesterday?"

"That's it exactly, Harry. I knew that something seriously had to be wrong with Ron. His heart wouldn't have changed that fast—" Neville answered.

"Wait, changed that fast how?" Hermione asked. Both boys looked at each other before Neville caved under her scrutiny.

"Well, it's..."

"It's something that Ron should share if he's going to," Harry interrupted, wisely backing out of Hermione's reach.

Neville cleared his throat. "Anyway, I remembered you, Harry telling me about Hermione warning you that Romilda Vane and some other girls were trying to slip you love potions."

"Excuse me?" Ginny remarked, looking furious. She gazed over at Harry as if to ask silently the veracity of the statement. When he nodded, she started to fume.

"I thought that it might be that Ron had had something with one of those potions in it. That suspicion grew stronger when I saw a box of chocolates with a card written to Harry on the front. Romilda had sent it." Neville looked apologetically toward Ginny.

"Since I'm not in Potions this year, I knew that there was no way that I could brew the antidote. Plus, I had no idea what Ron was planning to do next, but I couldn't let him screw up his chances for happiness any further. So I took him to Professor Slughorn."

"But if he had the antidote, why is he here?" Hermione interjected. "It's a simple potion really."

Neville fidgeted. Taking a deep breath while firmly looking at the ground, he started. "While Professor Slughorn brewed the antidote, he told me some stories about my parents. That led him to offer me some mead, especially when I mentioned that Ron was celebrating his birthday today and what bad luck he had to have for this to happen today of all days.

"The professor and I were toasting when Ron swallowed a gulp down. He had already had the antidote, see, which he had said tasted horrible. I think he wanted whatever he could to get that taste out of his mouth." Neville paused and looked at the three of them. "Something was wrong with the mead. Ron started convulsing. It's the way my grandfather died, the one I saw die. Professor Slughorn panicked, I guess. He just stood there in shock. I remembered about bezoars and thought that there would be one in the professor's potion stores. I found it quickly and shoved it in Ron's mouth, forcing him to swallow. Then I brought him up here, told Madame Pomfrey what happened and left to get you three."

By this point, Hermione had taken up vigil on the other side of Ron from Ginny. Holding his hand much like Ginny, she asked without looking at Neville. "But how did you remember the bezoar?"

"Hermione, I understand the theory and ingredients behind potions since that's for the most part a matter of revision. It's the brewing part that kept me from doing well on my O.W.L. I have problems remembering the directions while I'm brewing and it's not like the professor's attitude toward us Gryffindors helped." He took a deep breath before breathing out, "Snape," here he grimaced, "spoke about bezoars on the very first day of Potions in the questions he asked Harry. I made sure to revise everything in the first year over and over until I could quote it." He shrugged.

Neville was saved from having to answer any other questions by the return of Madam Pomfrey with Professors Dumbledore, Slughorn and Snape. They discussed the possibilities of who might have done this and why.

* * *

Hermione held Ron's hand in both of hers, holding it close to her cheek. She was still holding vigil at Ron's bedside. Regardless of whatever he had done or how small or mad he had made her feel, Hermione knew that she couldn't leave Ron alone in that hospital bed. It didn't matter to her that Ginny had stayed until the evening meal. She resolutely stayed by his bed, even to the point of eschewing her revision work. Early in the vigil, Madam Pomfrey had told the two girls that Ron was to rest as much as possible, which meant that they weren't to bother him. The potions that the matron had given Ron kept him under to the point that Hermione had not even seen him awake yet.

"Oh, Ron, why can you never eat chocolate in moderation? Why did you eat those chocolates? Why didn't you read who they were from? You could have figured it out if only you had bothered to read." She closed her eyes and brought his hand to her lips. "What am I saying? It's not your fault that Romilda Vane is an egotistical, psychotic, insane witch."

Opening her eyes, one hand released his to brush his hair back from his face. A slight smile crossed her face. "If I know your sister, she'll have something planned as payback before tomorrow. Romilda deserves it so even if I see it, I'll deliberately turn a blind eye. In fact, I might offer my services to Ginny tonight."

Gently cupping his cheek, tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about how close she came to losing him today. "Oh, this is all my fault. If only I had talked to you at breakfast, instead of storming away, then you would never have been there to eat those darn chocolates." Wiping her eyes with her free hand, she continued. "I just couldn't sit there and talk to you without wanting to tell you everything. We haven't talked in so long, but even before Lavender came into the picture, I never talked to you like I should have. I was too scared to let you know how much I care about you. I knew that it would scare you off and then I wouldn't even have your friendship anymore. I didn't think that I could survive here without at least your friendship. But having been without you these past months, I can't keep it inside." She let a small grunt at herself. "Even though I can only say this while you're asleep, Ron," her voice reduced to a whisper. "I love you."

She tucked his hand against her cheek, revelling in the rough feel of it. At that moment, Madame Pomfrey entered the hospital wing back from her evening meal.

"Miss Granger, it's time for you to go. You need to eat something before bed. Mr. Weasley will be fine. You can come see him in the morning," the nurse told the young witch gently, yet firmly.

Hermione nodded before lowering Ron's hand to the bed softly. She leaned over to drop a kiss on Ron's cheek before leaving the room. Since she didn't bother to look back, she didn't see two bright blue eyes pop open and Ron's hand reach up to the spot where she kissed him.

* * *

Ginny carefully slipped Harry's Invisibility Cloak over her head. Her wand firmly gripped in her hand, she whispered "_Lumos_" before unfolding the Marauder's Map. Harry was in his bed asleep, completely unaware of what she was about to do and that's exactly how she wanted it to stay. Glancing at the map reassuring herself that he was still there, she crept down the Gryffindor girls' stairs to the room one below hers.

Knowing that Romilda would have kept more of the potion in case her first attempt didn't work, Ginny searched her room while under Harry's cloak. The occupants of the room were all asleep and did not hear Ginny's exploring of everything in the vicinity of Romilda's bed. It wasn't until Ginny investigated the other girl's wardrobe that she found what she was looking for. Disgusted by the fact that the younger witch kept the potion vial in her lingerie drawer, Ginny gingerly picked up the vial. Even though she thought about casting a Cleaning Charm, she slipped the vial into her robe pocket.

Ginny quickly scampered down the stairs, thinking that everyone was surely upstairs in their rooms asleep. Yet, when she went to open the portrait hole, a voice behind her spoke up.

"You know, you really should cast a _Muffliato_ on your feet when you go down the stairs under that cloak, Ginny," Hermione said, rising from the couch in front of the fire. "If I know you, you're on your way to do something to get Romilda Vane back." Without waiting for confirmation, Hermione trudged on. "Would you like some help?"

Ginny was completely taken aback. "Are you sure you're Hermione Granger? Gryffindor prefect? Are you sure that you want to help?"

Hermione's face hardened as she answered. "Absolutely. That egotistical witch deserves to be taken down a peg or two. She needs to learn not to mess with our brothers."

"Hermione, you don't really think of Ron as your brother, do you?" Ginny asked warily.

"No, but I do think of Harry that way," Hermione responded with a lift of an eyebrow.

"Well, then, absolutely I would love help," Ginny asserted. She went on to explain her plan. Hermione offered a minor tweak to it before the two made their way to the kitchens to ask Dobby for help.

It was rather late when the two fell into their beds, but not before setting their alarms to go off very early. They didn't want to miss the show that they were sure would occur at breakfast the next morning.

* * *

March 2

Harry paused at the bottom of the boys' staircase to let his eyes sweep around the room, looking for his girlfriend or his best friend. Seeing no telltale sign of Weasley red hair or the bushy brown that belonged to Hermione, Harry decided to wait for five minutes on one of the couches. Demelza Robins called out to Harry.

"Are you looking for Hermione, Harry?"

"Yes, actually," Harry answered with a nod.

"She already left with Ginny for breakfast," Demelza told him.

Harry made his way down to the Great Hall, wondering why his best friend and girlfriend hadn't bothered to wait for him. Still, his eyes brightened once they landed on Ginny. Crossing to sit beside her, he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Good morning, Gin. Morning, Hermione," Harry stated. Once he was seated, he began filling his plate with his traditional breakfast. He poured himself some pumpkin juice before asking the two girls, "So what was the hurry to get to breakfast that you couldn't wait for me?"

Hermione and Ginny shared a guarded look before Ginny answered, laying a hand on Harry's thigh, "Nothing really." Her hand began to inch its way up his thigh, causing him to jump and look around to make sure no one saw that. He lifted her hand up and gripped it in his, holding it against his knee.

A flurry of whispers started up the moment that Romilda Vane walked into the Great Hall. Hermione and Ginny had smiles on their faces that resembled cats eating canaries. Harry, completely oblivious to all of this, continued eating while surreptitiously scanning the Marauder's Map for Malfoy. Ginny leaned over to whisper.

"If you're looking for Malfoy, he's sitting right over there." She subtly pointed him out to Harry. It was then that Harry realized that Ginny and Hermione had both chosen to sit facing the other tables. Normally they sat facing each other, but today they were sitting side by side. He wondered what was up.

Harry hadn't been aware of the twittering going on after Romilda's entrance until Malfoy stood up and strode over to kneel beside Romilda's seat. The blond Slytherin tried to take her hand, but she shrunk back from him.

"Romilda, sweet Romilda. Please, say you'll be mine. What am I saying? Of course, you'll be mine, for no one could love you more," Draco stated before being pushed out of the way by Millicent Bulstrode.

"No one could love Romy more than me!" Millicent shouted at Draco, who had gone sprawling across the floor.

Romilda's face showed shock with her eyes wide and her mouth slack. She slid down the bench closer toward the end where the trio was sitting. Several other Slytherins started to head toward the Gryffindor table, causing Romilda to slide further down the bench. When she ran into Dean Thomas, he, knowing what she had done to Ron, pushed her off of him and back toward the crowd of green-edged robes. She fell off the bench in her haste to try to leave. Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott rushed to her aid. Romilda stumbled backward, the soles of her shoes unable to grip anything to allow her to get up on her feet. Finally, the young Gryffindor took to her feet and fairly flew out of the Great Hall. Almost the entire Slytherin table ran after her, with dreamy looks on their faces calling her name and pleading with her to wait for them.

After a few moments of shocked silence, the majority of the student body that was left in the hall were roaring with laughter. Harry turned toward Hermione and Ginny, whose laughter was overflowing. He narrowed his eyes to look suspiciously at the two of them.

"Do you two ladies have any explanations on what exactly took place here?" Harry crossed his arms. The two girls struggled to contain their laughter. After several moments, they looked at each other before answering Harry together.

"Live by the potion, die by the potion."

* * *

Ron had spent most of the night planning out what he wanted to say to Hermione. Now the only rub was getting her alone. Shortly after breakfast with Madame Pomfrey, Ron heard voices outside the door and quickly shut his eyes in an effort to fake sleep in case it was his friends. He thought he had a way that might get Hermione by herself.

Sounds of feet running past the hospital wing filled the room as the door opened. Voices could be heard screaming "Romilda!" Ron didn't know what to think of that, but tried to regulate his breathing to simulate sleep.

He heard the footsteps of his sister and friends make their way to his bedside.

"Darn! He's still asleep. Don't you think he would have woken up by now?" Ginny said plaintively.

"Gin, he was poisoned. I think we should give him a little leeway here, don't you think?" Harry responded. _Since when does Harry call Ginny 'Gin' and since when does she let him?_

All thoughts about Harry and Ginny fled when soft skin gently lifted his hand, enveloping it. With the electric feel, he knew instantly that it was Hermione. He had to fight with himself to not open his eyes and give himself away. Ron allowed himself to fantasize about Hermione's hands running over his body. Those images were causing him to become aroused. Pitching a tent in the hospital bed would not be a good idea. Immediately he forced thoughts of things like Snape in Neville's grandmother's clothes, which promptly deflated anything that has been on the rise.

Coming to a decision about a way to ensure that Hermione would stay behind when Harry and Ginny left, he promptly let out a small moan and murmured "Hermione." Her hand tightened around his at the sound of her name on his lips.

Harry's voice seemed to drone in Ron's ears. Nothing being said registered in Ron's brain, not even the sounds of two sets of footsteps leaving the wing. It wasn't until lips touched his cheek that his brain finally came to life.

Not wanting to startle Hermione, he waited until she had eased back to sit in the chair beside him before slowly opening his eyes.

"Hi," he said softly. Her face softened and a smile spread slowly across her face. In his eyes, she had never looked more beautiful.

"Hi," she responded sheepishly, averting her eyes to study the white cloth below their hands. She tried to pull her hand away, but Ron just flipped his over to grip hers firmly.

Ron wished with all his heart that he could hear the internal dialogue that he knew had to be running through Hermione's mind at the moment. An uncomfortable silence stretched over the couple.

"Um, how are you feeling?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Ron shrugged. "I'm not sure that I'm feeling much of anything. Madam Pomfrey keeps giving me potions, which keep me kind of numb. How are you?"

"You're the one in the hospital wing, but you ask me how I am?" Hermione said wryly. "I'm fine, Ron. Slightly worried about the fact that my two best friends end up in the hospital wing a lot, but overall, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked her, truly taking her appearance now. Dark circles were etched in the skin under her eyes. Her head lolled forward as if she wanted nothing more than to drop it onto the side of the bed and into sleep. Even though he was used to her running herself down, this was the most tired he had ever seen her.

When she heard that phrase, her back stiffened and her eyes shot to his. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You look tired. That's all I'm saying," Ron said, trying to reassure Hermione that he wasn't intimating anything else.

"Well, so would you if you stayed up all night," she muttered. Then, as if realizing she had said that aloud, she clapped her hand over her mouth.

"Why were you up all night?" Ron asked. He was worried that something had happened to her.

"I don't know, Ron, maybe I was just a little worried about you," Hermione said rather caustically. She tried to pull her hand away from his again, but he gripped hers tighter.

"You were worried about me?" Ron queried.

"Of course I was. You hadn't woken up and even though Madam Pomfrey said you would be okay, I needed to see you awake to believe it," she answered.

Another stretch of silence ensued.

Hermione's voice, small and low, broke it. "I'm sorry."

Ron was puzzled. _What did she have to be sorry for?_ So he decided to ask her. "What for?"

"How I've treated you since Valentine's Day, how I treated you yesterday morning on your birthday, for not listening to you. Lots of things really." She ran the fingers of her free hand over the back of his closest hand.

"Well, if you're going to apologize for that, then I guess I better apologize for kissing you," Ron stated before vehemently shaking his head. "No, wait, I'm not going to apologize for that. Because I'm not sorry. I am sorry, however, that I did not break up with Lavender before I kissed you though. It was rather impulsive of me, I know."

"I just don't get how you can be so impulsive and yet be the best tactician in chess I've ever seen," Hermione said, frustrated.

"When it comes to moves on the chessboard, I know what I'm doing; with you, not so much," Ron replied. "I'm scared that I'll lose my queen. Sure, I can win without her, but it's much easier to win with her skills and abilities."

"Leave it to you to create a chess analogy," Hermione said, her eyes going wide once the implications of the words hit her. "Wait, your queen? I'm your queen?"

"I want you to be," Ron answered firmly, taking his Gryffindor courage up and holding it tight. "I've wanted you to be since second year."

"Are you serious?" Hermione questioned rhetorically. Her mouth, which had been agape, snapped closed. "If that's the case, then why did you start dating Lavender?"

Ron started to fidget in the bed. He took a deep breath before admitting, "I was jealous."

"Of what?" Hermione asked.

"Don't you mean of whom?" Ron responded. "Viktor Krum."

"But why? I mean, all we did was go to the dance together," Hermione replied.

"So you didn't kiss him?" Ron said sarcastically. He was totally amazed when she responded honestly with a "no." Knowing Hermione and how to tell if she was lying, Ron knew that she was telling him the truth when she said that she hadn't kissed Krum. He almost missed her next words.

"Our kiss on Valentine's Day was my first kiss," she admitted, cheeks aflame.

"I was Hermione's first kiss?" Ron repeated to himself. "But what about the rumours of you and Krum?"

"Parvati started them. I just never bothered to correct people who said it because I didn't think it mattered."

"But it did matter. I would never have snogged Lavender if I had known you hadn't kissed Krum."

"What?" Hermione was confused. Ron explained what had happened when he and Harry had come across Ginny and Dean. He wasn't sure what caused that look to cross Hermione's face, but it normally meant that she had figured something out.

"So will you?" Ron asked her.

"Will I what?" Hermione answered, tilting her head.

"Be my queen?"

"Always."

* * *

Hermione relished the feel of Ron's arm thrown over her shoulder. She was so pleased that Madam Pomfrey had felt he was well enough to venture down to the Great Hall for the evening meal. However, Ron was still a little shaky on his feet so Hermione was more than happy to help him.

As they were turning the corner on one of the landings, they saw the staircase start to move. She heard Ron curse under his breath, knowing that it would take them longer to make their way down now. Seeing the sheen of sweat shimmer on his forehead, she thought it might be best if they rested a moment. Hermione took her wand from her pocket and conjured a chair for Ron to sit in. Ron's arm slipped from around her neck as he slid into the chair. She rotated her head in a circle before rolling her shoulders to get some of the tension out that had formed while she had supported Ron.

A large hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged. She tumbled down into Ron's lap. Her hands flew up to grip his shoulders as she tried to steady herself in his lap.

"Sorry. You were too far away," Ron said, his lips brushing over her hair.

"Ron, I was no more than three metres away from you," Hermione stated, laughing.

"See, too far!"

He pulled her close and captured her lips with his. Hermione got lost in his embrace. It wasn't until the clamouring of feet rushing past broke through that she pulled away from Ron. Turning her head, she saw the back of whom she thought must be Romilda Vane rushing into the loo, still being chased by several Slytherins.

"I don't know why she thinks a loo will be an effective escape. Some girls are chasing her too," Hermione commented with a giggle. She placed her hand over her mouth to try to stop the laughter that was welling within her. Several giggles couldn't be contained. Ron just looked at her, uncertain as to why she was laughing.

The creak of the staircase settling back into place signalled that they could continue their journey. Hermione helped Ron stand and placed his arm across her shoulders. Together they managed to traverse the stairs and settle at the end of the Gryffindor table. It was still early so most students hadn't made it into the hall yet for the meal. Still, Hermione was shocked when Ron grabbed her hand to tuck it close to his side. They hadn't discussed whether or not they were going to tell everyone about them. Yet, it looked like Ron was all for revealing everything.

She and Ron sat eating and chatting. Both heads turned when they heard Harry's voice drifting over the chatter of the other students. Once Hermione caught sight of Harry and Ginny strolling over to the Gryffindor table hand-in-hand, she immediately turned to Ron to catch his reaction since she knew that this was what Harry was most worried about. A huge grin covered his face at the sight.

"Are you really okay with this?" she wondered aloud.

"Why wouldn't I be? He's my best mate. She's my little sister. If I can't trust them with each other, who could I trust with them?" he answered.

"But you've been so overprotective of Ginny. Harry was so worried about how you would react," Hermione responded.

"I was overprotective of Ginny with the other guys because they weren't Harry. Ever since the end of her first year when he saved her, I've thought that they were meant to be together. I just didn't want her doing anything with those other guys that she might wish later she had only done with Harry."

Hermione was astounded at this revelation. She turned to her boyfriend and threw her arms around him.

"Wow! I didn't know you had it in you," Hermione said before pulling back to resume her eating. By this point, Harry and Ginny had joined them at the table. After Harry had seated himself across from Hermione, he and Ginny started a routine that almost looked practiced. He divvied out the food for them both while Ginny poured their juice into their goblets. Ron just turned to Hermione and raised an eyebrow. She took it to mean, _See? Perfect for each other!_

In an amused voice, Ron addressed the two of them. "Is there anything the two of you would like to share with me?"

"It's great seeing you out of the hospital wing, Ron," Ginny said. Tapping her finger against her chin, she turned to Harry. "Wasn't there something we were meaning to tell Ron, but couldn't because he landed himself in a bed with Madam Pomfrey hovering nearby?"

Harry grinned before playing along. "You know, I think there was, but for the life of me, I can't remember. Was it something to do with Quidditch?"

Before they could continue their banter, the door to the Great Hall banged open. Romilda rushed through it, heading for the head table. Crabbe and Goyle lumbered behind her.

"Oh, Romy, just let us protect you. You're so beautiful," Crabbe said in a rather high-pitched voice.

Ginny turned to Harry, whispering, "I've never heard his voice before. That's scary."

"We're more than willing to share, Romy," Goyle pleaded.

"You know, I didn't realize he could talk before," Hermione said, shaking her head. The four of them just watched as Romilda ran up behind the head table, trying to use the table to get away from the two huge Slytherins. She crouched behind Professor McGonagall's empty chair. Professor Snape stood up to stop his two students from approaching the Gryffindor girl.

"Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, why do you insist on pestering this," he sneered at Romilda, "Gryffindor? Surely you have _better_ things to do than chase a Gryffindor?"

"But Professor Snape, she's beautiful and, and, and" both boys stammered. Snape stepped between them to turn to face their backs. He reached up and slapped the back of their heads.

"Please, show some control. Really! One would think you were a Hufflepuff with the way you're behaving," Snape snapped. He grabbed both by their collars and led them out of the hall.

Ron's eyes were wide when Hermione stopped laughing. She wondered what was running through his head.

"Did I miss something?" Ron asked. "Why is it that those two goons are fawning all over Romilda?"

Harry laughed and related what he had seen that morning at breakfast. Both guys turned to their respective girlfriends.

"You know, this has Ginny's fingerprints all over it," Ron said, looking between the two girls.

"Oh, I don't know," Harry said. "Ginny's very good at pranks and all, but just something about this has a distinct Hermione feel to it. Do you think there's a way to get them to admit it?"

"Normally I would suggest a good tickle charm, but I think we might have graduated above that now," Ron said, pondering what they could do. "I wonder if we kissed them into submission if they would reveal all."

"I thought it was withholding kisses that would get us answers, not actually kissing them," Harry said. The two witches giggled at the thoughts being bandied about by their men.

After a few more minutes of banter between the two wizards, Ron turned to Ginny and did his best to wheedle out of her what was going on. Hermione was very content to let the two of them discuss it as she knew that Ron would be able to get it out of her if he tried. She was somewhat surprised when Harry leaned over the table to talk to her.

"Hermione, you realize, don't you," he pointed between Ron and Hermione before Ginny and himself, "that this would never have happened if you hadn't read that book about customs."

"Oh, I think it would have happened, Harry. Just maybe not this soon and not in this way," she answered. She shrugged. "We'll never know how things could have been if there had been no Kissing Friday in our lives this year."


End file.
